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arXiv:1502.00059 · Physical Review A

Simulation and measurement of the fractional particle number in one-dimensional optical lattices

Dan-Wei Zhang, Feng Mei, Zheng‐Yuan Xue, Shi-Liang Zhu, Z. D. Wang

Published Jul 10, 2015• 22 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose a scheme to mimic and directly measure the fractional particle number in a generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with ultracold fermions in one-dimensional optical lattices. We show that the fractional particle number in this model can be simulated in the momentum-time parameter space in terms of Berry curvature without a spatial domain wall. In this simulation, a hopping modulation is adiabatically tuned to form a kink-type configuration, and the induced current plays the role of an analogous soliton distributing in the time domain such that the mimicked fractional particle number is expressed by the particle transport. Two feasible experimental setups of optical lattices for realizing the required Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian with tunable parameters and time-varying hopping modulation are presented. We also show practical methods for measuring the particle transport in the proposed cold atom systems by numerically calculating the shift in the Wannier center and the center of mass of an atomic cloud.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.92.013612

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We propose a scheme to mimic and directly measure the fractional particle number in a generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with ultracold fermions in one-dimensional optical lattices. We show that the fractional particle number in this model can be simulated in the momentum-time parameter space in terms of Berry curvature without a spatial domain wall. In this simulation, a hopping modulation is adiabatically tuned to form a kink-type configuration, and the induced current plays the role of an analogous soliton distributing in the time domain such that the mimicked fractional particle number is expressed by the particle transport. Two feasible experimental setups of optical lattices for realizing the required Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian with tunable parameters and time-varying hopping modulation are presented. We also show practical methods for measuring the particle transport in the proposed cold atom systems by numerically calculating the shift in the Wannier center and the center of mass of an atomic cloud.
We propose an experimental scheme to simulate the fractionalization of the particle number by using a one-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled ultracold fermionic gas. The desired spin-orbit coupling, a kinklike potential, and a conjugation-symmetry-breaking mass term are properly constructed by laser-atom interactions, leading to an effective low-energy relativistic Dirac Hamiltonian with a topologically nontrivial background field. The designed system supports a localized soliton excitation with a fractional particle number that is generally irrational and experimentally tunable, providing a direct realization of the celebrated generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. In addition, we elaborate on how to detect the induced soliton mode with the fractional particle number in the system.
We propose a scheme to simulate and explore Weyl semimetal physics with ultracold fermionic atoms in a two-dimensional square optical lattice subjected to experimentally realizable spin-orbit coupling and an artificial dimension from an external parameter space, which may increase experimental feasibility compared with the cases in three-dimensional optical lattices. It is shown that this system with a tight-binding model is able to describe essentially three-dimensional Weyl semimetals with tunable Weyl points. The relevant topological properties are also addressed by means of the Chern number and the gapless edge states. Furthermore, we illustrate that the mimicked Weyl points can be experimentally detected by measuring the atomic transfer fractions in a Bloch-Zener oscillation, and the characteristic topological invariant can be measured with the particle pumping approach.
We propose a simple method to simulate and detect topological insulators with cold atoms trapped in a one-dimensional bichromatic optical lattice subjected to a time-periodic modulation. The tight-binding form of this shaken system is equivalent to the periodically driven Aubry-Andre model. We demonstrate that this model can be mapped into a two-dimensional Chern insulator model, whose energy spectrum hosts a topological phase within an experimentally accessible parameter regime. By tuning the laser phase adiabatically, such one-dimensional system constitutes a natural platform to realize topological particle pumping. We show that the Chern number characterizing the topological features of this system can be measured by detecting the density shift after one cycle of pumping.
Alkaline-earth(-like) atoms, trapped in optical lattices and in the presence of an external gauge field, can form insulating states at given fractional fillings. We will show that, by exploiting these properties, it is possible to realize a topological fractional pump. Our analysis is based on a many-body adiabatic expansion, on simulations with time-dependent matrix product states, and, for a specific form of atom-atom interaction, on an exactly solvable model of fractional pump. The numerical simulations allow us to consider a realistic setup amenable of an experimental realization. As a further consequence, the measure of the center-of-mass shift of the atomic cloud would constitute the first measurement of a many-body Chern number in a cold-atom experiment.
We provide a detailed analysis of our previously proposed scheme [J. Ruostekoski, G. V. Dunne, and J. Javanainen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 180401 (2002)] to engineer the profile of the hopping amplitudes for atomic gases in a one-dimensional optical lattice so that the particle number becomes fractional. We consider a constructed system of a dilute two-species gas of fermionic atoms where the two components are coupled via a coherent electromagnetic field with a topologically nontrivial phase profile. We show both analytically and numerically how the resulting atomic Hamiltonian in a prepared dimerized optical lattice with a defect in the pattern of alternating hopping amplitudes exhibits a fractional fermion number. In particular, in the low-energy limit we demonstrate the equivalence of the atomic Hamiltonian to a relativistic Dirac Hamiltonian describing fractionalization in quantum field theory. Expanding on our earlier argument [J. Javanainen and J. Ruostekoski, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 150404 (2003)] we show how the fractional eigenvalues of the particle number operator can be detected via light scattering. In particular, we show how scattering of far-off resonant light can convey information about the counting and spin statistics of the atoms in an optical lattice, including state-selective atom density profiles and atom number fluctuations. Optical detection could provide a truly quantum mechanical measurement of the particle number fractionalization in a dilute atomic gas.
We analyze a ultracold fermionic atom system in a three dimensional optical lattice with a confinement harmonic potential, using the Hubbard model, and time-dependent Gutzwiller variational approach for numerical calculation. Our study is focused on the time evolution of the particle transfer when the lattice potential is modulated by adding a periodic one. The choice of the parameters such as the modulation frequency and amplitude and the particle number affects the particle transfer. We calculate the time evolution of the variance in the particle distribution, and show its dependence on the parameters. The lattice modulation turns out to work effectively in order to control the particle transfer, and will be a useful method in experiments for fermionic atom systems.